Brian Setzer is out on the road bringing his “Rockabilly Riot” to North America, hitting Oakland California on a Sunday evening along with Grammy award winner and blues phenom Yates McKendree as support.
Taking the stage promptly at 8:30PM, Setzer introduced themselves as the “best rockabilly band on the block” before tearing into “Rock Boys Rock” off of his 2023 release, The Devil Always Collects. Flanked by JC Larios on drums and Chris D’Rozario on the standup bass, it was clear that Brian hasn’t missed a beat over the years, making that Gretsch guitar sing as the rest of the band held down the rhythm section.
In true Setzer fashion, the setlist covered his solo material as well as a raft of covers including a handful of Stray Cats tunes that he simply wasn’t going to get away with skipping. Mid-set Setzer gave Larios and D’Rozario a much-needed break as he proceeded to blast through a solo set of instrumentals beginning with Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia (on My Mind),” first explaining to the audience that the trick to an effective cover song is not to change yourself, but to change the song. No doubt he owned those tunes.
A bit of heckling from the back of the theater from folks who apparently didn’t feel that a show with “riot” in its name should involve seats went unnoticed by Setzer as he brought the band back to finish out the set with a trio of Stray Cats tunes that got the crowd on its feet and singing along.
YATES McKENDREE
BRIAN SETZER SETLIST
Set #1
Rock Boys Rock
Double Talkin’ Baby (Gene Vincent cover)
Stack My Money
The Cat With 9 Wives
Stray Cat Strut (Stray Cats song)
Twenty Flight Rock (Eddie Cochran cover)
Smash Up On Highway One
Too Hip, Gotta Go (Stray Cats song)
Checkered Flag
Solo Instrumental Set
Georgia (on My Mind) (Hoagy Carmichael)
Lonesome Road
Black Mountain Rag
Sleep Walk (Santo & Johnny cover)
Set #2
The Train Kept A-Rollin’ (Tiny Bradshaw cover)
What’ll It Be Baby Doll?
Fishnet Stockings (Stray Cats song)
